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IRCAM, the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music directed by Frank Madlener, is one of the world’s largest public research centers dedicated to both musical expression and scientific research. This unique location where artistic sensibilities collide with scientific and technological innovation brings together over 160 collaborators.
IRCAM’s three principal activities — creation, research, transmission — are visible in IRCAM’s Parisian concert season, in productions throughout France and abroad, and in two annual rendezvous: ManiFeste that combines an international festival with a multidisciplinary academy and the Vertigo forum that presents technical mutations and their tangible effects on artistic creation.
Founded by Pierre Boulez, IRCAM is associated with the Centre Pompidou, under the tutelage of the French Ministry of Culture. The mixed STMS research lab (Sciences and Technologies for Music and Sound), housed by IRCAM, also benefits from the support of the CNRS and Sorbonne University.
In 2020, IRCAM created Ircam Amplify, a spin-off for the commercialization of the institute’s audio innovations. A true interface between state of the art of audio research and the industrial world on a global scale, Ircam Amplify is a major actor in the sound revolution of the 21st century.
It was during the contemporary music courses at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne that four bachelor students, Naomi Cohen, Camille Thévoz, Alexis Mauritz and Sebastiàn Ramírez met. They quickly developed a great musical complicity and a beautiful friendship and founded the Balsamik Quartet. Coached by their respective teachers, they explore a repertoire ranging from the 19th century to the present day.
La Bulle d’Air est un centre d’éveil et de formation musicale qui propose une approche pédagogique novatrice de la musique, la rendant accessible à tous les enfants, quelques soient leurs compétences. 27 ans d’expérience dans l’enseignement de la musique à Genève La Bulle d’Air a été fondée en 1994 par Martine Pernod, musicienne, psychologue, musicothérapeute et animatrice en éveil musical. Très vite rejointe par une équipe de passionnés, ils ont développé ensemble une approche novatrice de la musique.
Founded on the shores of Lake Geneva in Haute Savoie in 1977, the Théâtre de la Toupine company explores the multiple facets of live performance through its creations and the events. After 21 shows to its credit — from street theatre to object theatre — the company launched its ‘Bestiaire Alpin’ in 2009, the first in its series of ‘ecological ride-theatre with parental propulsion’. The Théâtre de la Toupine is also a creator, designer and artistic programmer of cultural events.
‘Chamber music at the heart of the orchestra … This is by far the best definition of what Appassionato is all about. More than a chamber orchestra, Appassionato is a “chamber musicians orchestra”. The listening skills developed by passionate musicians, with the true idea of playing together in mind, brings a color and energy that helps Appassionato stand out from other orchestras. Playing together is a question that obsesses all conductors as well as all musicians who perform other than as soloists. It is much more than simply putting the notes vertically on top of each other: it is almost the opposite of feeling the horizontality in order to align the verticality. Feeling the lines, the phrases, the movements of the music as a small group, but with many, allows a common breath that helps to fundamentally change the interpretation. A quartet, a trio, but with 40 players, a different listening helped by this reciprocity of the melodic lines, this game of question-answer from one ear to another, a musical ping-pong, concert after concert and recording after recording, this is what makes Appassionato stand out.’
— Mathieu Herzog, Artistic Director
The Verbier Festival Academy’s Atelier Lyrique is unique among voice programmes by offering the study of both opera roles and song repertoire in a supportive and inspiring setting as well as the opportunity to perform as part of a renowned international festival. The Atelier’s alumni are among some of today’s most sought after young performers.
The UNLTD Collective is made up of dynamic and forward-thinking alumni of the Verbier Festival Academy who develop and present innovative original projects.
Sukhishvili was officially founded in 1945 by Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili. It was the first professional state dance company in Georgia.
It’s utterly due to them that Georgian national dance has become popular all over the world.
Since 1945 three generations of Sukhishvili family are managing the Georgian National Ballet. Nowadays, Nino Sukhishvili (granddaughter of the founders) is General Director/CEO and Iliko Sukhishvili Jr (grandson of the founders) is Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of the company. In over 500 tours Georgian National Ballet has toured five continents, more than 90 countries, held over 10,000 concerts at which more than 50 million people have attended.
Depuis bientôt 40 ans, l’Ensemble Vocal du Haut-Valais (Oberwalliser Vokalensemble), sillonne la Suisse et l’Europe sous la direction de son fondateur, Hansruedi Kämpfen. L’obtention de nombreuses distinctions lors de concours internationaux et la participation à des concerts prestigieux ont rapidement donné à l’ensemble une reconnaissance nationale.
Depuis une première victoire inattendue, en 1989, au Concours International de Gorizia, l’OVE a très régulièrement été primé, tant lors de concours nationaux qu’internationaux. En 2013, il se voit décerner le Premier Prix de la Catégorie Elite du Concours Suisse des Chorales. En 2017, il remporte deux prix prestigieux : tout d’abord, à Riga, le Premier Prix de la Catégorie Ensembles vocaux de l’European Choir Games, puis, à Maassmechelen (B), le Troisième Prix (meilleur chœur européen de l’Ouest) de l’International Choir Contest.
L’OVE est régulièrement invité par des festivals prestigieux, en Suisse et à l’étranger. Il s’est notamment produit dans le cadre du Luzern Festival au côté du Hilliard Ensemble, au Zermatt Festival sous la direction de Marcus Creed et Ton Koopman, ou encore au Verbier Festival sous la baguette de Michael Tillson Thomas, Zubin Mehta, Jesus Lopez Cobos, ou encore Fabio Luisi.
Depuis sa création, l’OVE explore un très vaste répertoire. Il reçoit d’excellentes critiques, tant pour ses interprétations de Bach, en petite formation, que dans le répertoire romantique. Durant ces deux dernières décennies, l’ensemble a souvent créé des œuvres contemporaines, notamment de compositeurs valaisans tels que Eugen Meier ou encore Andreas Zurbriggen. En 2016, l’OVE accepte l’invitation du célèbre compositeur suisse Carl Rütti et crée Mysterium Montis, projet de vêpres pour 6 cors des Alpes, double chœur et solistes. Les concerts donnés à Köniz, Arlesheim, Einsiedeln et Brig rencontrent un immense succès et le nombreux public leur réserve lors de chaque concert une standing ovation. Ces concerts seront suivis par la réalisation d’un CD et d’un DVD.
En 2018, l’Oberwalliser Vokalensemble a tenu une place importante lors des BrigerMusikNächte.